Overview of DataQE

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DataQE is an affordable GIS data quality evaluation tool for ESRI ArcMap. It provides GIS professionals with a quick and easy way to perform a series of customizable quality assurance checks on tabular data, including attribute tables associated with geodatabase, shapefile, and coverage layers. DataQE enables users to define a set of data rules and apply them to target data sources, generating evaluation results that identify any discrepancies between the defined rules and the actual source data.

DataQE is suitable for use both by GIS professionals responsible for entering and editing data on a regular basis, as well as those responsible for ensuring data quality assurance and control. DataQE can be used to help evaluate the following criteria within an overall Quality Assurance program:

Compliance

Is a dataset compliant with established standards, such as an agency-wide Data Dictionary?

Completeness

Has required data been populated appropriately?

Suitability

Is a dataset appropriate for a given purpose?

Does the data make sense from a real-world perspective?

DataQE provides users with a simple interface for creating and managing Rule Sets, which are used to store the rule definitions used during evaluations. Users can choose from a series of predefined rule types that can be applied to an entire dataset as a whole, or to a specific field within a dataset. Data rules can also be customized to match appropriate agency or project standards. Once a Rule Set is created, simply assign it to a target dataset and start an evaluation to receive a report of any rule violations that currently exist within that particular data source. Rule Sets can also be easily shared between users, and can be published to a common location so that they can be accessed by users throughout an organization.

In addition to standard Layer Rules and Field Attribute Rules, DataQE provides the ability to develop custom, user-defined Query Rules, which allow you to create Rule Sets that can perform even more in-depth evaluations of your data, customized to match your existing business practices. Query Rules allow you to not only verify whether a dataset meets your specific data dictionary requirements, but also allows you to determine whether a dataset is appropriate for a given purpose, and whether or not the data makes sense from a business logic standpoint.